Halter, Ross trade jabs over health care LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Bill Halter on Friday criticized Democratic rival Mike Ross and the Republican candidates for Arkansas governor for opposing the federal health care law, saying their stances would have prevented the state from providing insurance to thousands of low-income residents. Ross, meanwhile, questioned how Halter planned to fund an expanded college scholarship program without cutting state services or raising taxes. The two Democra...

Clintons attend Little Rock airport ceremony LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reminisced Friday about their experiences at the Little Rock airport that now bears their names. “More than 40 years ago, the first time I came to Arkansas, I flew into this airport,” Hillary Clinton told hundreds gathered at a dedication ceremony. And long before the Clintons logged so many miles in the sky, the former president said he first...

Anti-gun groups focus on Pryor with ads, visit LITTLE ROCK (AP) — As one of five Democrats who opposed expanding background checks for firearm sales, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas is facing pressure from gun control groups who are urging him to rethink a position they suggest could haunt him during his re-election bid next year. Mayors Against Illegal Guns on Thursday brought the father of a student killed in the Newtown, Conn. school shooting last year to Arkansas in the hopes of arran...

House Democratic leader talks health careLITTLE ROCK (AP) — U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi defended passage of the federal health care overhaul Thursday during a visit to Arkansas. “Many members of Congress believe that passing the Affordable Care Act was the most monumental achievement in our own lives of public service,” Pelosi told the hundreds gathered in Little Rock at an event organized by the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. Pelosi received a...

Officials: Israel launches airstrike into Syria WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel launched an airstrike into Syria, apparently targeting a suspected weapons site, U.S. officials said Friday night. The strike occurred overnight Thursday into Friday, the officials told The Associated Press. It did not appear that a chemical weapons site was targeted, they said, and one official said the strike appeared to have hit a warehouse. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not au...

Obama, Mexican president talk economy, security MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Barack Obama sought on Thursday to tamp down a potential rift with Mexico over a dramatic shift in the cross-border fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, acceding that Mexicans had the right to determine how best to tackle the violence that has plagued their country. Since taking office in December, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has moved to end the widespread access that U.S. security agencies...

US suicide rate rose sharply among middle-aged NEW YORK (AP) — The suicide rate among middle-aged Americans climbed a startling 28 percent in a decade, a period that included the recession and the mortgage crisis, the government reported Thursday. The trend was most pronounced among white men and women in that age group. Their suicide rate jumped 40 percent between 1999 and 2010. But the rates in younger and older people held steady. And there was little change among middle-aged blacks, Hi...

Fresh off victory, NRA holds convention in Houston AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The National Rifle Association has spent much of the past year under siege, ardently defending gun rights following mass shootings in Colorado and Connecticut and fighting back against mounting pressure for stricter laws in Washington and state capitols across the country. Now, after winning a major victory over President Barack Obama with the defeat of a gun control bill in the U.S. Senate, the powerful gun-rights lobby w...

Decades-old question: Is antibacterial soap safe? WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a chemical that’s been in U.S. households for more than 40 years, from the body wash in your bathroom shower to the knives on your kitchen counter to the bedding in your baby’s basinet. But federal health regulators are just now deciding whether triclosan — the germ-killing ingredient found in an estimated 75 percent of antibacterial liquid soaps and body washes sold in the U.S. — is ineffective, or worse, harmful. The U...

Miss. ricin-letters case headed to grand jury OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — A dust mask that tested positive for ricin also contained DNA from a Mississippi man suspected of sending poison-laced letters to President Barack Obama and others, an FBI agent testified Thursday. The testimony came during a preliminary hearing for James Everett Dutshcke, 41, who was arrested Saturday at his home in Tupelo and charged with making ricin, the same substance mailed on April 8 to Obama, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker...

Hagel: US rethinking possibly arming Syrian rebels WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is rethinking its opposition to arming the rebels who have been locked in a civil war with the Syrian regime for more than two years, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday, becoming the first top U.S. official to publicly acknowledge the reassessment. During a Pentagon news conference with British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond, Hagel said arming the rebels was one option that the administrati...

US calls for NKorea amnesty for sentenced American WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. called Thursday for North Korea to grant amnesty and immediately release a Korean-American sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor for “hostile acts” against the state. Kenneth Bae, 44, a Washington state man described by friends as a devout Christian and a tour operator, is at least the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009. The others eventually were deported or released without serving out their terms, some ...

Oil drilling technology leaps, clean energy lags NEW YORK (AP) — Technology created an energy revolution over the past decade — just not the one we expected. By now, cars were supposed to be running on fuel made from plant waste or algae — or powered by hydrogen or cheap batteries that burned nothing at all. Electricity would be generated with solar panels and wind turbines. When the sun didn’t shine or the wind didn’t blow, power would flow out of batteries the size of tractor-trailers. Fos...

US economic reports hold out hope for hiring gains WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans are losing their jobs. Employers are struggling to squeeze more work from their staffs. The U.S. is producing so much oil that imports are plunging, narrowing the trade deficit. A string of data Thursday raised hopes for stronger hiring and U.S. growth in coming months. More jobs would spur spending and help energize the economy, which has yet to regain full health nearly four years after the Great Recession o...

Pope County to discuss step pay planA proposed step pay raise plan was presented to members of a Pope County Quorum Court committee on Tuesday. Justice Doug Skelton asked members of the Governmental/Personnel Committee to review an ordinance that, if passed, would enact a step pay raise plan allowing employees to reach the full pay for their position over a five year period. New employees would be hired at 85 percent of the full pay established for their positions, and would rec...

Gitmo closure elusive, Obama looks at other steps WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite President Barack Obama’s new vow, closing the Guantanamo Bay prison is still a tough sell in Congress. So the White House may look instead toward smaller steps like transferring some terror suspects back overseas. Shutting down the prison at the U.S. naval base in Cuba is a goal that has eluded Obama since he took office. In his first week, he signed an executive order for its closure, but Congress has used its budget...

Local setbacks vex GOP governors eyeing 2016 race WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican governors are often seen as innovative policymakers and potential presidential candidates, but a few are struggling with political or ethical problems that might crimp their ambitions. Two governors eyeing possible White House bids — Bob McDonnell of Virginia and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana — suddenly find themselves fending off critics and trying to shore up legacies they hope will withstand national scrutiny. Other...

Justice Department appeals morning-after case WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Wednesday appealed a federal judge’s order to lift all age limits on who can buy morning-after birth control pills without a prescription. The decision came a day after the Food and Drug Administration had lowered the age that people can buy the Plan B One-Step morning-after pill without a prescription to 15 — younger than the current limit of 17 — and decided that the pill could be sold on drugsto...

Immigration debate gives life to annual rallies LOS ANGELES (AP) — Demonstrators demanded an overhaul of immigration laws Wednesday in an annual, nationwide ritual that carried a special sense of urgency as Congress considers sweeping legislation that would bring many of the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally out of the shadows. Thousands joined May Day rallies in dozens of cities from Concord, N.H., to Bozeman, Mont. In Salem, Ore., Gov. John Kitzhaber was cheered by ...

Immigration debate creates dilemma for Obama WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s prospects for a sweeping legislative victory this year now rest almost solely on the immigration overhaul working its way through Congress. But immigration’s tricky politics have created a dilemma for a president fighting for an issue he considers central to his legacy. If Obama is too closely aligned with the legislation, it could scare away Republicans wary of appearing to hand the president a win. ...